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The Blogmanac: "On This Day" ... and much more
Think universally. Act terrestrially.
For in a hard-working society, it is rare and even subversive to celebrate too much, to revel and keep on reveling: to stop whatever you're doing and rave, pray, throw things, go into trances, jump over bonfires, drape yourself in flowers, stay up all night, and scoop the froth from the sea.
Anneli Rufus*
Please pardon the length of this item, but it's an unusual exception to our policy. This is a manual for action for use by individuals or organizations. Archive this one for constant reference. Forward it to everyone you know. Print it so you can make copies for your groups and to mail or fax to those without computers.
Gone are the days when we could count on newspapers, radio stations and TV networks being owned by both Democrats and Republicans who would keep each other honest. It's a different ball game now. No longer can candidates get "equal time" on the "public airwaves." It's up to us, the public, to let the powers that be know that we're not going to let them get away with another pretend election like 2000 (and 2002, for that matter!). If we ALL commit to doing at least one action each day -- send one email, make one phone call, talk to one slave of mainstream media, etc. -- we CAN make a difference! -v
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Eric A. Smith Hot Damn! Design 81-03-3959-5371 snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp
(Please distribute widely.)
An Emergency Call-to-Arms: A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future
This is a call to arms to you -- as an American and a custodian of your nation's future. Please act as if your life depends on it -- it well might.
We have been led down a dark, perilous road.
The journey has touched us all, from mothers and fathers burying children in a war over nonexistent WMD, to firefighters and policemen promised vital funds only to be cheated and asked to work for free. Millions of Americans have been cut loose as corporations exploit foreign workers on the cheap and CEOs gorge themselves on riches unprecedented in history. While Americans take second and even third jobs just feed their families, the Bush Administration has poured America's wealth into the greedy hands of defense contractors and tax-dodging megacorporations, notorious companies like (#1 Bush donator Kenneth Lay's) Enron or Cheney's wartime ripoff-artists at Halliburton.
Our environment, safety, economy, national security, labor protection and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights have all been gutted and left to die in a worker-hostile economy.
NOW WE FIGHT BACK.
Here's what we're facing:
This November, the Bush election machine has more than three times the spending power of its opponents(1)
And they are fighting dirty, just as they did in 2000, when they purged Florida voter rolls(2), rioted to stop recounts(3), barred citizens from voting (ibid) and even threatened the Vice President and his family on their front lawn (4).
This year, through gerrymandering, data theft from Congressional computers, impeachments and recess judicial appointments, they are trying to consolidate their unprecedented power. And they have a special election-season surprise in store for us as well -- as the AFL-CIO argued before the Supreme Court last December(5), the Bushites have MADE IT A CRIME FOR THIRD PARTIES TO CRITICIZE THE PRESIDENT OR SAY THINGS TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION during the election's most critical phase:
"This blackout will become national in scope on July 31, 30 days before the August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention . . . and it will then continue without interruption throughout the remaining 60 days until the November 2 election. Thus, from July 31, 2004 until the election, it will be a crime for a union, corporation, or incorporated non-profit organization to pay to broadcast any 'reference' to the President by 'name,' 'photograph,' 'drawing' or other 'unambiguous' means anywhere in the United States." (6) [Emphasis added. -v]
They are ruthless, and will not concede victory without a vicious fight. Expect the outlawing of gay marriage to "divide and conquer", marginalize opponents and consolidate support from the religious right, a base estimated to be 30 million strong (7). Expect Ralph Nader to syphon off votes yet again. Expect the Supreme Court to halt recounts again. Expect a "surprise" discovery of WMD even after Blix, David Kay and Iraq's scientists saying they were all destroyed. (8) Expect the "suprise" capture or "destruction" of Bin Laden conveniently close to the election (9). Expect lots of scary terrorism warnings and perhaps even an attack. (10) General Tommy Franks has even suggested a second 9-11-scale attack will lead to martial law in America (11). [Emphasis added. -v]
None of this should deter you; remember it was the same group (Rumsfeld, Cheney, Baker, Bush Sr., Perle, etc.) that armed and funded Hussein and Bin Laden in the first place. The blood of our dead is therefore on their hands. [Emphasis added. -v]
We must not underestimate the ruthlessness of those willing to start an international war based on known and transparent lies -- virtually against the will of the entire planet. Make no mistake; they are willing to throw away American lives in their quest for global dominion. And if you rise up and oppose them, you may be bullied, harassed and threatened, perhaps even by the FBI.(12) YOU MUST NOT LET THIS DETER YOU. WE MUST NOT BE BULLIED INTO LETTING THEM SEIZE POWER AGAIN! [Emphasis added. -v]
For example, from the NY Times: "When a Times editorial writer dropped in on one Palm Beach precinct where there were reports of malfunctioning machines, county officials called the police to remove him."(ibid)
And here we come to the deep, dark heart of the matter: [Emphasis added. -v]
This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic voting machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can be used to fix an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a link to the diagrammed, step-by-step report of how e-vote activist Bev Harris hacked one(13). If you think this is exaggeration, please follow the links listed below, where everything has been well-documented and by the NY Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)
Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been installed, the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be able to prove if an election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who have stolen it CAN NEVER BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter reprisal, whoever takes advantage of such a situation could do literally anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE POWER. It will mean the end of Democracy. And if you work for an activist group, it will certainly mean the end of your organization.
We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab in human history.
Do your part.
Help save America.
There will not be a second chance.
A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:
I. LOBBYING (20 minutes approximately) Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R. 2239 and ESPECIALLY 1980 (14)
Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration Office of Election Administration Federal Election Commission 999 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20463 vss@fec.gov (202) 694-1095 (phone) (202) 219-8500 (fax)
III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS (one afternoon) Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations meetings to be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, it is your legal right to attend as a witness, although, out of convenience, they may try to avoid giving you the information. Insist on your rights.
If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN OR BE INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES, paid by YOUR TAXES:
Assertion: "Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs money" Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal printers are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.
Assertion: "The paper is very expensive" Fact: Thermal paper is the cheapest made, and with an estimated maximmum of 300 people voting at each touch screen a LARGE precinct may have seven touch screens, but many have just two or three, it might cost $15 per precinct to print those ballots.
Assertion: "The paper won't last" Fact: If the report to be provided by the machine will last the required amount of time, the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer is there to report totals at the polling place.
Assertion: "The machines will jam" Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart. Remember: the total number of transactions will be about 300. Do supermarket and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No. They process thousands of printouts without jamming.
Assertion: "The ink will run out" Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer
Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, which is the legal vote?" Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a mechanical defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record seen and verified by thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine is bits and bytes that can be changed by a single technician!
Assertion: "Paper ballot systems have been tampered with" Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not allow sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against electronic voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use it for auditing.
Assertion: "Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new laws must be written." Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.
Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated and stringent auditing" Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. It is still cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes currently being implemented to accommodate the sales of more touchscreen machines.
Question: "Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?" Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired
Assertion: "Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting" Facts: Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the visually-impaired can be provided with headphones for these machines. Nor does a paper printout hinder their ability to vote.
Alternatives DO exist to those Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines which are operated by heavily partisan CEOs and are designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail. Those Diebold types' code and components are not allowed to be examined.
Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass screen. After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is dropped into a storage box so it can be checked against the machine totals and the AccuPoll system has a scanner that can pass over the printed ballot to verify votes.
Sequioa machines can be attached to normal printers. If your group has some at its disposal, by all means, bring them.
IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING (three days approximately, including preliminary training) Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here: http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?
Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what to look for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also recommended that you either download her free e-book "Black Box Voting", or better yet, purchase it here: http://www.blackboxvoting.org
CITIZEN WATCHDOGS:
What to look for and report -- Let's get good at this before November!
Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots:
We have information that all systems recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO NOT recognize all inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the polling place with you to mark your optical-scan ballots.
All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) -- Demand that the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling place at the end of the day, whether they are required to or not. All Diebold machines, both touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal printers and have the ability to print a polling place results report. This takes 60 seconds and costs nothing, and is an important check and balance to compare with the county results from the GEMS system, which we believe to contain security flaws. Votes should not change from the polling place to the county.
Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. Do NOT accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, absentee, provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling place totals. That is called "co-mingling" the data and is not an acceptable record-keeping practice. Additional categories of votes must be accounted for as separate line items.
Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can easily be hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a polling place report.
Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if any votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).
Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get cameras there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in minority areas.
Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative of the county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing reports.
Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report any evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you see more than a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in progress.
Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either during or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. Also, report any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also not permitted.
Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some poll workers were told to take voting machines home after training; Georgia flag artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other unwise and insecure procedures were followed.
Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it is. We had reports recently of machines left in the polling place unattended.
Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are not sworn elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape or form after votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 of Black Box Voting, the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal (Diebold tech Sophia Lee was tied to a live vote database that appeared on the Internet five hours before the polls closed).
Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the essence, as these analyses take some time and there are only a few days before the election is certified.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Palestinians: U.S. Veto Gives Israel License to Kill
"GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinians accused the United States on Friday of granting Israel a license to kill by vetoing U.N. condemnation of its assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin ...
"At the United Nations, the United States late on Thursday vetoed a Security Council resolution by Arab nations to censure Israel for assassinating Hamas's wheelchair-bound founder in a missile strike outside a Gaza mosque on Monday.
"Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning Monday's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution because it did not also denounce Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel. The vote was 11 in favor, three abstentions, and the United States veto that killed the measure."
*Ø* Blogmanac | Urgent: Spread 9/11 and Iraq Revelations
NOW IS THE TIME, FOLKS! THINGS ARE HEATIN' UP AND WE ALL MUST DO OUR PART!
Urgent: Spread 9/11 and Iraq Revelations
Several days ago, former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke revealed how the Bush administration systematically mishandled 9/11 and Iraq. Help us get Clarke's comments in front of the American people in a new hard-hitting ad. [And forward this item as widely as you can. -v]
Dear Friend of MoveOn.org,
As you may have heard, Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism advisor to Bush, and a registered Republican who has worked in every administration since Reagan, has exposed Bush's mishandling of 9/11 and the war on Iraq.{1} In his book "Against All Enemies," Clarke does an amazing job of presenting the facts and connecting the dots. Instead of refuting Clarke's claims, the Bush Administration has launched a campaign of character assassination, hoping that the story will just go away.{2}
We're committed to stopping that from happening by making sure that the American public hears Clarke's extraordinary comments. If we can raise $300,000 in the next few days, we can run a hard-hitting ad nationally that highlights his message. You can see a rough story board of the ad and donate to get it on the air.
When the World Trade Center was hit on the morning of 9/11, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice dubbed Richard Clarke, the administration's top counter-terrorism official, "crisis manager."{3} As the White House, which was thought to be the next target, was evacuated, Clarke heroically stayed on, coordinating the government's response from the Situation Room in the West Wing.{4}
Clarke is viewed by colleagues as a hawk, a "true believer" who doesn't play partisan politics.{5} So the shocking facts he revealed about the Bush administration's approach to terrorism before 9/11 and its response after must be taken seriously. On Sunday, Clarke told reporters that the President and Defense Secretary downgraded counter-terrorism and ignored repeated warnings about an al Qaeda attack prior to 9/11. And, perhaps even more explosive, Clarke revealed that President Bush and senior administration officials wanted to bomb Iraq after 9/11 even though they knew that it had no connection to al Qaeda, and that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks.{6}
Already, the White House spin machine is in overdrive. Since they can't rebut Clarke's facts -- which independent witnesses have confirmed{7} -- they're trying to paint him as an angry partisan, even though he's a Republican. But Clarke's words remain a searing indictment of the Bush Administration's campaign against terrorism. Together, if we act today, we can beat back the spin by widely airing a TV ad which gets these uniquely credible comments directly to TV viewers.
In his own words, here are some of Clarke's revelations:
Clarke repeatedly warned the Bush Administration about attacks from al Qaeda, starting in the first days of Bush's term. "But on January 24th, 2001, I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent memo-- wasn't acted on."{8} According to another Bush administration security official, Clarke "was the guy pushing hardest, saying again and again that something big was going to happen, including possibly here in the U.S." The official added that Clarke was likely sidelined because he had served in the previous (Clinton) administration.{9}
In face-to-face meetings, CIA Director George Tenet warned President Bush repeatedly in the months before 9/11 that an attack was coming. According to Clarke, Tenet told the President that "A major al-Qaeda attack is going to happen against the United States somewhere in the world in the weeks and months ahead."{10 }
On September 12, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld pushed to bomb Iraq even though they knew that al Qaeda was in Afghanistan. "Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq," Clarke said. "And we all said ... no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq. I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it.'"{11}
Also on September 12, 2001, President Bush personally pushed Clarke to find evidence that Iraq was behind the attacks. From the New York Times: "'I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything,' Mr. Clarke writes that Mr. Bush told him. 'See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way.' When Mr. Clarke protested that the culprit was Al Qaeda, not Iraq, Mr. Bush testily ordered him, he writes, to 'look into Iraq, Saddam,' and then left the room."{12}
The Bush Administration knew from the beginning that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, but created the misperception in order to push their policy goals. "[Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush] did know better. They did know better. They did know better. We told them, the CIA told them, the FBI told them. They did know better. And the tragedy here is that Americans went to their death in Iraq thinking that they were avenging September 11th, when Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th. I think for a commander-in-chief and a vice president to allow that to happen is unconscionable."{13 }
The war on Iraq has increased the danger of terrorism. In his book, he writes that shifting from al Qaeda to Iraq "launched an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq that strengthened the fundamentalist, radical Islamic terrorist movement worldwide."{14}
It's been well reported that President Bush intends to run on his record as a wartime President. Clarke's revelations show how deeply flawed that record is. But if we don't act fast, the public may not have a chance to evaluate the facts for themselves -- the story could go away quickly. With an ad, we can take Clarke's comments directly to the public.
(By the way, if we're unable to use your contribution for the ad you specify, either because of oversubscription or for another unforeseen reason, it is our policy to use your contribution for other advertising, public relations, and advocacy activities.)
Richard Clarke had an intimate view -- perhaps the best view -- of how the Bush Administration responded to terrorism. So we should all listen carefully when he says:
"Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know. . . I think the way he has responded to al-Qaeda, both before 9/11 by doing nothing, and by what he's done after 9/11 has made us less safe, absolutely. I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism."{15}
Together, we can make sure every American knows what President Bush's true record on terrorism really is.
Sincerely, --Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Wes, and Zack The MoveOn PAC Team March 24th, 2004
P.P.S. As the Administration strikes back, our friends at the Center for American Progress have put together an excellent rebuttal to their claims. Here's an example:
CLAIM #1: "Richard Clarke had plenty of opportunities to tell us in the administration that he thought the war on terrorism was moving in the wrong direction and he chose not to." -- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04
FACT: Clarke sent a memo to Rice principals on 1/24/01 marked "urgent" asking for a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with an impending Al Qaeda attack. The White House acknowledges this, but says "principals did not need to have a formal meeting to discuss the threat." No meeting occurred until one week before 9/11. -- White House Press Release, 3/21/04
"So Iraq is a big joke to President Bush. The frat-boy president thinks that not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, at the cost of a nation ruined and tens of thousands killed, is a towel-snapping hoot.
"In perhaps the most tasteless display ever put on by a president, Bush made a funny out of Iraq at last night's Radio-TV Correspondents Association dinner. (No, I didn't go to that event. I haven't ever been to one of those yuck-yuck insider sessions ever, and I wouldn't go if I were invited, unless it were to investigate the participants.)
"Anyway, here is the account of Bush's supposedly hilarious appearance before the tuxedo-clad elite, from The Washington Post this morning:
'He [Bush] put up dorky looking pictures of himself. A recurring joke involved photos of the president in awkward positions -- bent over as if he's looking under a table, leaning to look out a window -- accompanied by remarks such as 'Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere!' and 'Nope, no weapons over there!' and 'Maybe under here?'
"That's funny? I wish the tape of the president cackling about his lies over Iraq could be broadcast on Iraqi TV. And maybe shown to the families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq."
*Ø* Blogmanac | Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Tell the American Public What You Know
From ActForChange Contributed by Working Assets
The American people deserve to know the truth about 9/11, but National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice refuses to testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission.
Cabinet officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations are cooperating with the commission by testifying in detail under oath. However, the official in possibly the best position to shed light on decisions that may have contributed to the tragic events of September 11 would rather spin the situation in the media than help the independent bipartisan commission get to the bottom of a matter of crucial importance to all Americans.
Recent revelations by former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke raise troubling questions about the Bush administration's actions before and after September 11, 2001. But while Rice has found ample time in her busy schedule to make the morning talk show rounds for the purposes of attacking the former head of the National Security Council, she has refused repeated requests from the commission to testify in public and under oath.
Rice's refusal to tell Americans the truth about 9/11 is not a partisan issue. Reacting to Clarke's allegations, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) cautioned: "This is a serious book written by a serious professional who's made serious charges, and the White House must respond to these charges."
Call to action:
CLICK HERE and tell Condoleezza Rice to stop playing politics with the security of Americans and testify under oath before the independent bipartisan 9/11 Commission.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Is Bush Unhinged?/Voting For the Lesser of Two Police States
Is Bush Unhinged? by Robert Higgs
Before you conclude that I myself must be unhinged even to raise such a question, ask yourself this: If a man talks as if he has lost contact with reality, then might he actually have done so? Granted that this possibility deserves evaluation, then consider President George W. Bush's rhetoric in his March 19 speech to diplomats and others at the White House.
The president begins by stating his interpretation of the recent bombings in Madrid, reiterating one of his recurrent themes of the past two and a half years: "[T]he civilized world is at war" in a "new kind of war." The concept of war, of course, ranks high among evocative metaphors. Not by accident have politicians declared wars on poverty, drugs, cancer, illiteracy, and an assortment of other alleged enemies. A society at war, as William James observed in 1906 in his call for the "moral equivalent of war," finds a reason for unaccustomed solidarity and – here's where the politicians come in – for unaccustomed submission to central government authority. James himself, after all, was arguing that "the martial type of character can be bred without war." Political leaders are always seeking to establish such character, with themselves in command of the battalions of "disciplined" subjects. Insofar as the so-called war on terrorism merely represents the latest attempt to bend the war metaphor to an obvious political purpose, we might well dismiss the president's rhetorical flourish as nothing but the same old same old.
Bush, however, will allow no such dismissal. "The war on terror," he insists, "is not a figure of speech." Well, I beg your pardon, Mr. President, but that is precisely what it is. How can one go to war against "terror," which is a state of mind? Even if the president were to take more care with his language and to speak instead of a "war on terrorism," the phrase still could not be anything more than a metaphor, because terrorism is a form of action available to virtually any determined adult anywhere anytime. War on terrorism, too, can be only a figure of speech.
War, if it is anything, is the marshalling of armed forces against somebody, not against a state of mind or a form of action. Wars are fought between groups of persons. We might argue about whether the United States can wage war only against another nation state, as opposed to an indefinitely large number of individuals committed to fanatical Islamism who in various workaday guises are living in scores of different countries. The expression "war on certain criminals and conspirators of criminal acts" would fit the present case better and would entail far more sensible thinking about the proper way to deal with such persons. The idea of war, obviously, calls to mind too readily the serviceability of the armed forces. Hence the application of such forces to the conquest of Iraq in the name of "bringing the terrorists to justice," although that conquest was actually nothing but a hugely destructive, immensely expensive diversion from genuine efforts to allay the threat posed by the Islamist maniacs who compose al Qaeda and similar groups. "These killers will be tracked down and found, they will face their day of justice," the president declares, speaking as always as if only a fixed number of such killers exist, rather than a vast reservoir of actual and potential recruits that is only augmented and revitalized by actions such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It would be a boon to humanity if the president could be brought to understand the distinction between waging war and establishing justice.
Voting For The Lesser of Two Police States by Anthony Gregory
In 2000, many libertarian-leaning voters decided to vote against Al Gore, giving their endorsement to rule the country to George W. Bush. Some others may have chosen the Democrat, and a depressingly small number gave their support to Libertarian candidate Harry Browne. Many libertarians did not vote at all, refusing to concede any legitimacy to the state, and engaging in what many have argued to be the best libertarian electoral strategy of them all.
The first group of voters I mention, not particularly thrilled with Bush, but utterly appalled by Gore, held their noses in the voting booths, and joined millions of comrades who shared the sentiment that eight years of Bill Clinton had pushed America in an unmistakably socialist direction, and Al Gore, if elected, would only accelerate the sad process. Clinton’s attempt to nationalize healthcare, his murderous attack at Waco, Texas, his belligerent, unconstitutional bombing of Serbia, his advocacy of myriad intrusions in business and the family – this legacy had to be stopped, and libertarian-leaning voters could not let Al Gore continue it, with his extravagant promises of a new millennium of increased central planning at home and foreign intervention abroad.
Bush promised a more "humble" foreign policy, respect for states’ rights on medical marijuana, a tax cut, and a fledgling Social Security "privatization" plan. Across the board, said many of my friends, George II was the lesser of two evils.
Of course, he also called for more education spending, bizarre "faith-based" welfare programs, and expanded Medicare coverage for seniors. "Even so," chided many of my friends, "he’s still the lesser of two evils."
By now, most sensible people have abandoned that theory. Bush won the presidency by the smallest margin in American history, and has pretty much gotten away with everything we feared Gore might have inflicted upon us.
Nowadays, many libertarian-leaning folks believe that John Kerry is the lesser of two evils. To stop America’s charge toward fascism, George W. Bush must lose in November. Which probably means, unless a third party candidate has unprecedented success, that John Kerry must win.
What would John Kerry do if elected? We can’t know for sure, but we can look at what he proposes, on just a handful of issues.
On foreign policy, Kerry believes in a "bold progressive internationalism that focuses not just on the immediate and imminent, but insidious dangers that can mount over the next years and decade, dangers that span the spectrum from the denial of democracy, to destructive weapons, endemic poverty and endemic disease."
Whoah boy! Kerry wants the U.S. government to go around the world and fix all the countries that aren’t democracies, confront the nations that have "destructive weapons" – as opposed to the other kind – and wipe out poverty and disease. Whereas many accuse Bush of lying about an "imminent threat," Kerry says that’s too high a standard for intervention. Sounds like a formula for invading the whole world.
WeConverge has not been officially launched but there is already an expectant buzz! It feels like a vital part of translating the first stage of our Kucinich movement into an even more powerful second stage.
I’m writing today to ask for your help with building WeConverge. Since we’re doing this on a shoestring and the model for the site is one of distributed empowerment, a lot of it will look pretty empty until a good posse of change-agents moves in to homestead. That means register, start discussions, list events, add resources to the Resource area of the site, start groups, etc.
So I’m asking for three things to happen in the next 48 hours before the 20,000 cards we’ve distributed across the country lead to a flood of people logging in:
1) Go to the site and register yourself. This will allow like-minded progressives to find each other by neighborhood. http://www.weconverge.net
2) Start up some conversations on the discussion boards. Add the local peace march events for Saturday if you are attending.
3) Start populating the Resource Wikis. Wikis are very cool tools. They look like fairly plain web pages, but all the content is editable by YOU. Or whomever. Today, we have set up areas for states, for movements, for campaign hierarchies, for best practices, for book reviews, for networkers, for websites, but they are not yet linked to the home page. They are all virtually blank until someone starts filling them up. And then someone else comes along and improves upon the last person. If someone graffittis a page, you can revert back to the last saved copy. There’s a bit of a learning curve to adapt to the format, but I strongly encourage you to take fifteen minutes to learn how to do it because you can then help us grow an outstanding, ever-growing, always updatable resource library for the movement. Basically, all you do is click on a link at the bottom of any page and open it up for editing. Anything that you either put together with two capital letters MovementResources or [[enclose in double brackets]] will end up as a link to a fresh page, which you can then fill in ad infinitum. There are some other formatting tips on the homepage. http://www.civicactions.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WeConverge
One other thing: we’re doing an overhaul of the front-page which will improve the look and feel some, and then ratchet up again in the next week or two. So be patient. Lots of cool tools will be built, depending on time, money, and priorities. Imagine getting weekly newsletters with just local events and conversation topics! That’s just to whet your appetite for more…
Finally, we feel like this could REALLY take off and turn into a full-fledged, revolution-rockin’ PAC. We’re going to need lots of volunteers helping to build it. Especially:
-- Software person with PHPBB expertise. Other computer wizards welcome. -- Legal advice from someone knowledgeable about the rules on creating PACs -- Lots of busy people adding events, resources, newsletter links, etc. Use it to build your local network!
One more thing, the mission and vision statement have gone through a few rounds of feedback. Before it is formalized on the site, we’re still taking feedback and seeing if there are other refinements that help us find the sweet spot of shared mission while maintaining enough freedom and space for individual uniqueness. It’s below.
WeConverge is committed to bringing positive change movements together into a powerful coalition to make substantial changes in our political system, communities, and personal lives.
Vision:
WeConverge connects people with one another and provides access to common tools, resources, and opportunities to gain greater power in society through collective action. We do not ask for commitment to a single political party, ideology, or strategy. Rather, we are committed to empowering those with a similar vision of the world we want to live in. That vision is of a world that:
-- Evolves beyond war and militarism
-- Lives sustainably and abundantly within our means
-- Builds effective and fair systems for relations between nations
-- Acts compassionately to extend health care, education, and jobs to all
-- Reforms politics and business to maximize transparency and fairness
-- Advances an agenda of civil rights, equal opportunity, and freedom
-- Fosters personal growth and increased consciousness
-- Honors the spiritual unity beneath all religions
We will focus on activities that support the creation of this world, with the intent to help people influence issues ranging from the local to the global. Finally, we affirm the importance of bringing celebration, creative expression, and love into the process of social change, as well as a healthy dose of laughter.
2004 focus: We believe that the 2004 Presidential election provides a unique opportunity for this newly emerging culture to gain strength, create changes, and forge enduring communities. For various reasons, progressives with similar values chose to align with different president candidates during the Democratic primaries. As the race appears to narrow to Bush, Kerry, and Nader, it is our belief that progressives have a window of opportunity to come together and advance fundamental changes. Our goal is to help organize and strengthen all progressive camps in the service of removing Bush from power AND maximizing the changes that are possible this year. We intend to develop lasting networks that will continue to grow in power after this election cycle.
History: Founded in March of 2004, the idea for WeConverge grew from the inspiration of Dennis Kucinich’s run for president. However, the founders recognize that the larger convergence of positive change movements extends far beyond his candidacy and includes many different camps, movements, and factions, all of whom share a similar compass setting for our future. We have created this forum for progressives to find their allies and organize around specific issues while also moving towards greater unanimity and consolidated political power. We plan to incorporate WeConverge as a 501 c4 Political Action Committee.
Dedication: We dedicate this network to the memory of Mike Pring, a tireless visionary who devoted his life to transforming our society and died unexpectedly on the eve of our launch. May the blazing torch of his life continue to light the path forward for years to come.
Julian Borger in Washington talks to former White House insider Richard Clarke about US's vulnerability to al-Qaida before the September 11 attack.
The Guardian
Excerpt: JB: If there had been meetings on terrorism in that first eight months, do you think it would have made a difference?
RC: Well let me ask you: Contrast December '99 with June and July and August 2001. In December '99 we get similar kinds of evidence that al-Qaida was planning a similar kind of attack. President Clinton asks the national security advisor to hold daily meetings with attorney-general, the CIA, FBI. They go back to their departments from the White House and shake the departments out to the field offices to find out everything they can find. It becomes the number one priority of those agencies. When the head of the FBI and CIA have to go to the White House every day, things happen and by the way, we prevented the attack.
Contrast that with June, July, August 2001 when the president is being briefed virtually every day in his morning intelligence briefing that something is about to happen, and he never chairs a meeting and he never asks Condi rice to chair a meeting about what we're doing about stopping the attacks. She didn't hold one meeting during all those three months. Now, it turns out that buried in the FBI and CIA, there was information about two of these al-Qaida terrorists who turned out to be hijackers [Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi]. We didn't know that. The leadership of the FBI didn't know that, but if the leadership had to report on a daily basis to the White House, he would have shaken the trees and he would have found out those two guys were there. We would have put their pictures on the front page of every newspaper and we probably would have caught them. Now would that have stopped 9/11? I don't know. It would have stopped those two guys, and knowing the FBI the way they can take a thread and pull on it, they would probably have found others.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush 'undermined war on terrorism' by invading Iraq
Conor O'Clery, Washington:
"President George Bush's former counter-terrorism adviser stunned members of the 9/11 commission into silence yesterday when he asserted: 'By invading Iraq, the president of the United States has gravely undermined the war on terrorism.'
"It was the most dramatic moment in an extraordinary day of sworn testimony on Capitol Hill where the 10-member bipartisan commission is hearing evidence from top officials on events leading to 9/11.
"Mr Richard Clarke, who has retired after serving four presidents, testified that the Clinton administration had 'no higher priority' than combating terrorism, but before the attacks, the Bush administration treated it as 'important' but not 'urgent'.
"His testimony is potentially devastating for President Bush, who is fighting for re-election on the basis of his war on terror and Mr Clarke was sharply questioned by Republican members about his pointed criticism of Bush officials in a book published on Monday.
"He was accused of acting in a partisan way by former Navy Secretary Mr John Lehman, who said he had a 'credibility problem' because he had praised the administration's policies to the media in August 2002.
"Mr Clarke said that he was a registered Republican and that as a government official he had the option to resign or obey his instructions to put a positive spin on White House policy. 'I've done it for several presidents,' he said to laughter.
"The silver-haired former aide was applauded by the audience, many of them relatives of 9/11 victims, for making an apology for failing to stop the al-Qaeda attacks, the only top aide to do so."
"Software giant Microsoft looks set to face the biggest fine in EU history for abusing its monopoly position.
"The European competition commissioner is set to reveal [on Wednesday] what penalties he is imposing on Microsoft.
"But EU member states met to discuss his proposals on Monday, after which leaks swirled round Brussels that it would be nearly 500m euros ($616m; £334m).
"Microsoft has a cash pile of more than $50bn, so even a fine on this scale is unlikely to hurt it commercially."
1832 In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
Tarring and feathering is a British punishment that dates back to the days of the Crusades (1191) and King Richard the Lionheart:
Concerning the lawes and ordinances appointed by King Richard for his navie the forme thereof was this … item, a thiefe or felon that hath stolen, being lawfully convicted, shal have his head shorne, and boyling pitch poured upon his head, and feathers or downe strawed upon the same whereby he may be knowen, and so at the first landing-place they shall come to, there to be cast up. Translation of the original statute of Richard I; in Hakluyt’s Voyages, ii. 21
Tar was readily available in shipyards and feathers came from any handy pillow. Though the cruelty invariably stopped short of murder, the tar needed to be burning hot for application. The first record of this punishment is in 1189. A law was made that any robber voyaging with the crusaders "shall be first shaved, then boiling pitch shall be poured upon his head, and a cushion of feathers shook over it." The miscreant was then to be put ashore at the first port. (Rymer Fœdera, i. 65.)
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Time for Jewish Americans to say "enough!"
Leaders of many countries, including the United Kingdom, have roundly condemned the assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Only Bush's administration, and to a certain extent, Australia's Howard government, have been weak on it.
Imagine the craziness it took within Sharon's government to come up with this bizarre plot. Here is Ahmed Yassin: old, quadriplegic, almost blind and deaf, and by far the most popular spiritual leader in the Muslim world. The Israeli geniuses decide to kill him with rockets as he leaves morning prayers at a mosque. In his wheelchair. The effect this is having in the entire Muslim world – not just in Palestine – is that which you could imagine if Osama bin Laden were to kill the Pope as he's wheeled from the Sistine Chapel.
No, not for a minute am I intending to posit a moral equivalence between Pope John Paul II and Sheik Yassin. That's not the point at all.
How many people must now die because of Israel's actions? How many Israelis, Americans, Palestinians, Australians and Japanese must die because idiots like Bush and Sharon – and Australia's John Howard – do all in their power to enrage people they seem not to have any understanding of at all? Truly, this is mind boggling. Is it any wonder that 100,000 angry people attended yesterday's funeral, or that many Muslims are calling for a bloodbath?
It seems to me that Sharon is about as mentally unbalanced as any Palestinian leader, and must be stopped. There is basically only one force that can halt this rampant lunatic, and that is financial pressure from the United States of America. The USA gives half of its foreign aid to Sharon's little rich country, and most of it is squandered by this out-of-control regime.
If it is only the USA that can stop Sharon committing further acts of barbarity, then who can force the USA to stop him? Maybe nobody, but if anyone can do it, it seems to me that it is American Jews. It's clear that large numbers of them oppose the current dinosaur policies of the Israeli government. It is they who must counterbalance, and overturn, the present agenda of the well-funded and powerful Zionist lobby in the USA. I believe that Jewish men and women of goodwill can do it, whereas the rest of us, especially those of us who live outside the USA and look on with feelings of powerlessness, do not have such opportunities.
It's time to speak up, as the Middle East's flashpoint situation is much worse now, with tens of thousands of US troops in that benighted part of the world.
How is the world reacting to the assassination? Our global media portal is a good way to find out. There's a permalink in the left-hand column on this page, but here's another.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Does al Qaeda claim 9-11 responsibility?
If not, why not?
In my piece on March 15 (below) 'Is something rotten in the state of Spain?', I wrote:
"Let's not forget that bin Laden said that although he was pleased that the WTC was destroyed, he condemned the killing of its occupants, and emphatically stated that his organisation didn't do it."
I had a feeling I'd be asked for a citation. In fact, Nora asked for it, and here 'tis, the USA Department of Defense site, DefenseLink News, ten days after 9-11.
I thought I'd post this publicly for the record. It raises the questions I raised on March 15:
"Does it strike anyone else as peculiar that Al Qaeda would: claim responsibility for its bombings in the 1990s (as terrorist groups tend to do); then clearly and repeatedly deny having executed the 9-11 events; and now claim responsibility for the Spanish tragedy and point out that the Spanish bombings commemorated the 2-and-a-half-year anniversary of 9-11?"
Claims an inside job Osama bin Laden is on record as telling the Karachi daily newspaper, Ummat:
"Neither I nor my organisation Al-Qaida is involved in the attacks and the US has traced the attackers within America.
"The attackers could be anybody, people who are part of the American system yet rebel against it, or some group that wants to make this century a century of confrontation between Islam and Christianity," he said.
Referring to evidence obtained by American intelligence, bin Laden said: "Ask this question to these intelligence agencies that get billions of dollars every year."
Ummat quotes bin Laden as saying: "We are against the American system but not the American people. Islam does not allow killing of innocent people, men, women and children even in the event of war."
As far as I know, and if I'm mistaken on this please tell me, the bombings admitted to by Al Qaeda in the 1990s were against embassies. While this is to be deplored, the targets might arguably be more military targets than the WTC, and so fit bin Laden's alleged opposition to killing innocent people. I admit I'm still hazy about Al Qaeda's pre-9-11 activities and the extent to which they have claimed responsibility for anything.
"A former top White House terrorism adviser has accused President George W Bush of doing a 'terrible job' of defending the country against terrorism.
"Richard Clarke said in an interview on American television that the Bush administration ignored terrorism for months, when it could have done something to stop the attacks of September 11.
"He is due to testify later this week before a commission investigating the attacks.
"Mr Clarke also claims he was put under pressure to find what he says were non-existent links between Al Qaeda and Iraq.
"'Well [US Defence Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq and we all said that "no, no, Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan, we need to bomb Afghanistan",' he said.
"'Rumsfeld said, there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.
"'I said, "well there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it".' Source: ABC Oz
"Clarke criticizes [Attorney General John] Ashcroft over his response to the 2001 attacks, especially over handling of alleged 'dirty bomber' Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant. 'The attorney general, rather than bringing us together, managed to persuade much of the country that the needed reforms of the Patriot Act were actually the beginning of fascism.' Clarke says an unidentified staffer asked him after meeting with Ashcroft early in 2001, 'He can't really be that slow, can he?' Clarke's response: 'He did lose a Senate re-election to a dead man.'" Source: SF Gate
*Ø* Blogmanac March 22 | Festival of the Entry of the Tree
For the god Attis, ancient Rome (Origins of Palm Sunday)
The priests of the goddess Cybele would carry pine (some say palm) trees through the streets and today, for the god Attis. Over time, the sacred rites of this day were appropriated by the Christians, and they attached themselves to Palm Sunday.
In Roman mythology, Cybele’s lover and son, or grandson, Attis, betrayed the goddess, and she drove him mad. In his fallen state, Attis castrated himself and died of haemorrhage, violets, springing from his blood. (Castration apparently ran in the family. Attis’s mother was Nana, who was impregnated by an almond of the tree sprung from the severed genitals of Agdistis – Pausanias 7.17.8. Note that Pausanias’s version of the Attis story differs from others; there are several Attis myths.)
Fortunately for Attis, when he mutilated himself she was remorseful, and Zeus helped her resurrect him after three days. (The myth of Cybele and Attis has inspired one of the greatest of all Roman poems, the 93-line Attis of Catullus.)
A felled pine tree was covered with violets and carried to the shrine of Cybele on Mount Dindymus. It might be that one main tree was carried solemnly, and participants and bystanders waved smaller trees and branches. At the shrine, in what is obviously a Spring Equinox symbol for this life-death-rebirth deity, strikingly similar to Easter, Attis was mourned for three days until in ritual he was resurrected by the love of Cybele, following which the devotees engaged in joyous and unrestrained celebration.
The God was dead on March 22; his holy blood ran down to redeem the earth. Two days of mourning followed, but when night fell on the eve of the third day, March 25, the worshippers turned to joy.
For suddenly a light shone in the darkness; the tomb was opened; the God had risen from the dead ... [and the priest] softly whispered in their ears the glad tidings of salvation. The resurrection of the God was hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too would issue triumphant from the corruption of the grave. Frazer, JG, The Golden Bough
Note that March 25 is nine months (the human gestation period) before December 25; ie, Spring Equinox is nine months before Winter Solstice ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
"Hundreds of thousands rally around the world against the U.S. occupation of Iraq on the first anniversary of the war."
So reads the headline in the Miami News. Hundreds of thousands? Why, 100,000 marched in New York alone. Millions worldwide, more like it.
See the Google News links of stories about the worldwide protests on Saturday. Here are just some of the headlines:
Worldwide rallies mark war anniversary Seattle Times, WA - 18 minutes ago By Nicole Winfield. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Rome yesterday demanding that Italy pull its 2,600 troops out of Iraq ...
Thousands protests against Iraq war The Hindu, India - 33 minutes ago New York, March. 21 (PTI): Thousands of peace activists held marches across the United States to mark the first anniversary of the ...
Protests mark Iraq invasion anniversary London Free Press, Canada - 56 minutes ago NEW YORK -- Thousands of protesters turned out around the world yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the US-led invasion of Iraq and call ...
Global rallies for peace on anniversary of Iraq war Xinhua, China - 1 hour ago BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- More than one million anti-war protesters poured into the streets of cities around the world on Saturday's anniversary of the ...
Protesters worldwide want US out of Iraq Houston Chronicle, TX - 1 hour ago NEW YORK -- Hundreds of thousands of people around the world rallied against the US presence in Iraq on the first anniversary of the war Saturday, in protests ...
Antiwar demonstrators fill streets Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription), MN - 4 hours ago NEW YORK -- Thousands of protesters turned out nationwide Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq and to call for the removal of ...
Thousands protest on anniversary of Iraq war Gulf News, United Arab Emirates - 4 hours ago Anger over the war in Iraq remained sharp on the first anniversary of the US-led conflict's start yesterday as protesters took to the streets across much of ...
Major Protests Mark Iraq War Anniversary Guardian, UK - 6 hours ago By VERENA DOBNIK. NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people around the world rallied against the US presence in Iraq on the ...
Global anti-war protests on the Iraqi war anniversary China Daily, China - 6 hours ago A young boy takes part in an anti-war march in central Barcelona on the first anniversary of the start of war in Iraq, March 20, 2004. ...
In New York and Worldwide, Thousands Protest Iraq War New York Times - 7 hours ago Marking the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, crowds of sign-waving, slogan-chanting demonstrators marched through Midtown Manhattan and scores of ...
DAY OF ANGER Gulf Daily News, Bahrain - 7 hours ago Thousands of anti-war protesters poured into streets around the world yesterday, on the anniversary of the Iraq war to demand the withdrawal of US-led troops. ...
Huge Worldwide Protests Demand Iraq Troop Pullout Wired News - 8 hours ago By Grant McCool. NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than a million antiwar protesters poured into the streets of cities around the globe on ...
100000 at NYC rally as protests gather nationwide Newsday, NY - 8 hours ago By VERENA DOBNIK. NEW YORK -- Anti-war protesters turned out nationwide Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the US-led war ...
Thousands join protest in New York to mark 1st anniversary of ... Xinhua, China - 9 hours ago NEW YORK, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through the streets of New York Saturday on the first anniversary of the Iraq war ...
Worldwide protests mark first anniversary of Iraq war Japan Today, Japan - 9 hours ago NEW YORK — Hundreds of thousands of anti-war protesters around the world took to the streets Saturday to denounce the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq ...
Worldwide protests demand Iraq pullout Reuters, UK - 9 hours ago By Grant McCool. NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than a million antiwar protesters have poured into the streets of cities around the globe ...
Many Americans are wondering, "Why are millions of people marching in protest against the United States' pre-emptive military actions in countries around the world? We're only trying to help! A little collateral damage is bound to happen. It's the cost of freedom and democracy for those suffering under despotic leaders, right? After all, we've got to keep Americans safe, no matter what!"
The mainstream media is brilliant at hiding from us what war is all about. We hear no body counts, we see no body bags, we take part in no ceremonies for the dead who are returned to the U.S. in Dover. God forbid we should know about the thousands of American troops suffering "on hold," awaiting treatment for their injuries at Ft. Knox and elsewhere, doomed to poor healing of wounds and broken bones due to lengthy waits for proprer treatment, as if we were a third world country. And that's just the Americans killed and injured! Even less breath is wasted on the worthless "others" we kill by the tens of thousands with culster boms dropped carelessly on residential areas, schools, markets, mosques, hospitals, museums, etc. They're merely collateral damage.
Here, at last, is a brilliant pictorial presentation depicting what people are suffering and what people elsewhere in the world are seeing in their media. Ask yourself the questions posed here and, please, forward this widely and freely with the caveat that the pictures are not for the young or the sensitive. Wait! Yes, they ARE! They're for everyone who needs to know the truth of what the United States is doing around the world.
MAKE YOUR CHOICE (Keep refreshing the page -- there are 1,300 posters.)
A country on the brink As the one-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war passes, the 7.30 Report's Kerry O'Brien asks the ABC's foreign affairs editor, Peter Cave, what the future holds for a nation on the brink. From Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Kerry O'Brien: Peter, I guess heightened tension would be an understatement as the anniversary approaches?
Peter Cave: It probably is Kerry. There's no doubt at all that this country is on the brink of a civil war and that there are people trying to push it over that brink.
The bombing last night that killed 29 [since revised down to 17] at a hotel not far from where I'm standing was one example. While that was happening there was also a rocket attack on American soldiers out at the airport. Two soldiers were killed there, another four or five were very badly wounded.
In Baquba, to the north, a couple of rockets slammed into a police station, narrowly missing the policeman there, narrowly missing a couple of American troops and very badly wounding two civilians who were standing outside the police station.
So certainly, as the anniversary approaches, as the handover to local control approaches, there are those here who are attempting to push it over that brink.
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In my piece on March 15 (below) 'Is something rotten in the state of Spain?', I wrote:
For the god Attis, ancient Rome
